Compassion showcases Sacred Healing Sounds

Compassion is the fourth and latest New Age/Classical crossover album by Sangeeta Kaur. With a background as a trained opera singer, Kundalini yogini, songwriter, and producer, this multi-talented Vietnamese American artist co-created her latest offering with musician, composer, and producer, Nicolas Neidhardt, to impressive results. Combining sacred chants, uplifting English songs, and vocalizations set to soothing instrumentation, listening to Compassion is the perfect prescription to help heal a multitude of the world’s current ails for yourself, each other, and all sentient beings.

Music on Compassion by Sangeeta Kaur

Sangeeta Kaur worked with the Hungarian Studio Orchestra, the Hungarian Studio Choir, Sterling Ensemble, as well as Duy Tran and Danaë Vlasse, who contribute choral compositions. The result is angelic music that’s nourishment for the soul. Kaur and Neidhardt’s production is flawless, ranging from grandly cinematic to dreamily intimate. Sangeeta’s vocals shine with elegant purity, simultaneously conveying a heartfelt vulnerability. Choir vocals are skillfully added throughout, creating awe-inspiring sacredness that left me feeling a sense of holy wonder.

“Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha,” a Tibetan Buddhist chant of compassion to honor the bodhisattva, Green Tara, is the perfect opening song. The other Tibetan Buddhist song included on Compassion is, “Om Vajra Sattva Hum.” This mantra of the bodhisattva, Vajrasattva, purifies the mind, body, and speech, opening connection—One Mind—to all the Buddhas.

“Rise Up” and “Song of Compassion” offer gentle inspiration and hope with lyrics in English. “Transcendence” and “Voices and Crystals” are perfect for savasana and relaxation with their ethereal vocals and sublime musical accompaniment.

“We Are One,” a song of vocalizations set to orchestral music, invokes a sense of the collective gathering together in unity as the vocalizations build in sync with the swell of the orchestra in a grand fashion.

“May the Long Time Sun,” the standard closing song sung by all at any Kundalini Yoga class, is sweet and sublime with Sangeeta and Nicolas’s unique arrangement of Mike Heron’s original song.

“Transcendence” and “Sa Re Sa Sa” are my two picks for standout tracks. “Transcendence” has a lullaby vibe that could tame even the fiercest emotional tigers which can arise in so many of us during stressful times. “Sa Re Sa Sa,” is a Kundalini yoga mantra to remove negativity and obstacles. It thus clears the way for creativity, peace, and higher consciousness is absolutely divine. Compassion closes with “Voices of Compassion,” a satisfying choral medley of highlights from the album.

Sangeeta shares the following. “My soul has a commitment to infuse the dharma and ancient wisdom into everything I do. The songs must serve a true purpose, and for anyone being challenged in these times, I am committed to sharing music that uplifts and inspires the soul.”

Compassion will open your heart, soften the rough edges within, and provide a pathway to find your inner peace.

Leanne Wood

Reviewed by Leanne Wood; Yoga Music Aficionada at Bliss Bubble Radio and Bliss-Chasing Blogger at www.BlissBubble.com. Prior to this, Leanne was the founding manager of the mantra rock band, Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe, the founder and director of the non-profit project The Shakti Tribe Foundation which offered empowering peace concert programs in jails, prison and halfway houses and was the co-founder of the ground-breaking “Yoga for your Ears” internet radio station Sacred Sounds Radio. She is currently working on her Eat, Pray, Love meets Almost Famous memoir, which chronicles her often surreal life on the road with a yoga band on the rise and the lessons learned in the bargain.

www.blissbubble.com

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If you’re like me, you’ve frequently sought solace in music during these turbulent days. Juliet Lyons‘ latest project, The Light Within, is the perfect album to nestle into for a restorative respite. Created as a passion project by Lyons to uplift, strengthen, and heal; her music beckons listeners to seek the soothing inner corridors and landscapes of the spirit.

Several years in the making, Lyons also hopes these songs help others find and remember their own light. Lyons intimate yet ethereal vocals, and her sincere, simple lyrics combined with poignant, often soaring music and melodies create a lush space of serenity.

Juliet Lyons, Musicians, and Music on The Light Within

With a successful career creating music for film and television, Juliet’s skillful production abilities shine on this album. Beautifully layered vocal harmonies are balanced with sensitive attention to instrumentation. Judy Kang’s cello parts on “Stillness” and the title track are exquisitely featured. Ron Korb’s flute work on “Eternal Now” is adeptly mixed for maximum evocative effect. Other notable performances include David Vito Gregoli on programming, sitar, bass, and guitars on “Flow;” Ricky Kej on keyboards and programming on “Lokah Samastah;” and Lyons’ husband, Rupesh Menon, who contributes vocals on “Lokah Samastah” and “Eternal Now.”

World Music Influences

As a seasoned world traveler, I asked Juliet how this has informed her music. “The most obvious influence you’ll hear on The Light Within is Indian. My husband Rupesh is Indian and since we met, I have had many opportunities to travel to and spend time in India. On one of my visits, I got to scratch the surface of Carnatic music by taking some Carnatic singing lessons.”

Juliet continues, “But even from childhood I have always loved the music of different countries and cultures. I would usually buy albums of the music I’d hear on the radio during my travels and become a bit obsessed with them. I even had an alter ego – Dr. Lyons, Ethnomusicologist – and would spend free time recording these pretend radio shows where I traveled to different countries and secretly record and report about obscure musical traditions, using recordings I checked out from the music library. So while sonically there are obvious Indian elements in many of the songs, the global consciousness – the respect and celebration of varied cultures, played a big role in the overarching messages and lyrical themes of the album.”

“Om Shanti,” “Calm,” and “Heal You” are standout tracks. However, this is one of those albums I think is best appreciated by listening from start to finish as it takes you on a transformative journey to tranquility. Her influences for this album include Snatam Kaur, Wah!, A.R. Rahman, Lisa Gerrard, and the Chill channel on Sirius.

I highly recommend adding The Light Within to your music library. It will clear your mind of stress and worry and fill your heart with peace.

Leanne Wood

Reviewed by Leanne Wood; Yoga Music Aficionada at Bliss Bubble Radio and Bliss-Chasing Blogger at www.BlissBubble.com. Prior to this, Leanne was the founding manager of the mantra rock band, Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe, the founder and director of the non-profit project The Shakti Tribe Foundation which offered empowering peace concert programs in jails, prison and halfway houses and was the co-founder of the ground-breaking “Yoga for your Ears” internet radio station Sacred Sounds Radio. She is currently working on her Eat, Pray, Love meets Almost Famous memoir, which chronicles her often surreal life on the road with a yoga band on the rise and the lessons learned in the bargain.

www.blissbubble.com

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Here In Heaven arrives like refreshing nectar to quench a world thirsty for some much-needed grace. Donna De Lory is known for her etheric, angelic vocals that envelop listeners in a dreamy, heart-centering haze, and her latest offering provides another opportunity to get wrapped in her mystical warmth. Whether the lush and layered “Heaven” or more pared-down and raw remake of her original song, “Go Talk To Mary” from her 1993 release Bliss, Donna’s new album is restorative ambrosia.

At its core, Here In Heaven is about authentic connection in all forms: Family, Spirit, Love, Divinity, Truth. A fusion of pop and world (Indian and Latin) grooves, this album is a masterfully crafted, performed, and produced mix of English, Spanish, Sanskrit and Gurmukhi songs on love, nature, and reverence. It’s at once poignantly personal and easily relatable with broad-based appeal.

Standout Songs on Here in Heaven

Other standout tracks include “Amor Amor,” co-written by Donna and her late, Grammy award-winning father (featured on piano); “Listen,” co-written with Avasa and Matty Love, which includes a playful chorus sung by Donna’s daughter Luci and her third-grade class; and “Sat Siri,” the only outright chant-titled track on the album. For fans of Donna’s signature mantra music, you’ll find sacred sweetness with the Buddhist verses “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo” on two songs and the Gurmukhi “Ra Ma Da Sa” at the end of “Go Talk to Mary.”

Donna De Lory and the Magic of Performance

Donna’s voice is a divine gift she’s perfected and honed through a life devoted to her artistry. There’s an intimacy on Here In Heaven that’s different than her previous releases. I feel like I’m being allowed special access to a private performance, and she completely sweeps me up and away with her pure presence throughout. Donna has an uncanny ability to project an air of mystery while also transmitting a vulnerable sensitivity. This is true whether you’re tuning into her music via recordings or partaking in her magic live. Her path traverses the world of pop and sacred Eastern chant, bringing her sizable talent and behemoth musical chops to a devotional world that requires raw and real if one is to touch the hearts of the spiritual community at large. And she does. Every. Single. Time.

Here in Heaven Musicians

The musicianship on this album is stellar, with guitarists James Harrah (Jewel, Madonna, Ray Charles) and Gerry Leonard (David Bowie); percussionists Dave Allen (Michelle Branch), and Luis Conte (Phil Collins, Madonna, James Taylor). Musicians on strings include Stevie Blacke (Beck, Rob Thomas, Nelly Furtado), among others. Donna contributes keyboards and harmonium. The album was mixed by studio wiz Kevin Killen (U2, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Elvis Costello).

Elixir for the Spirit

Uplifting and evocative, Here In Heaven is a soothing and healing musical elixir for the mind, body, and spirit.

Leanne Wood

Reviewed by Leanne Wood; Yoga Music Aficionada at Bliss Bubble Radio and Bliss-Chasing Blogger at www.BlissBubble.com. Prior to this, Leanne was the founding manager of the mantra rock band, Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe, the founder and director of the non-profit project The Shakti Tribe Foundation which offered empowering peace concert programs in jails, prison and halfway houses and was the co-founder of the ground-breaking “Yoga for your Ears” internet radio station Sacred Sounds Radio. She is currently working on her Eat, Pray, Love meets Almost Famous memoir, which chronicles her often surreal life on the road with a yoga band on the rise and the lessons learned in the bargain.

www.blissbubble.com

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DEVA

DEVA arrives in a full-circle moment of glory 20 years after Deva Premal’s emergence on the music scene with the widely-played and shared “Gayatri Mantra” track off her 1998 debut release, The Essence. Her new album, DEVA, is perfect for yoga, meditation, and any time you need a respite from life’s hectic pace. The album is a transcendent journey that opens with the “Seven-Chakra Gayatri” and closes with a “Prabhu Mix” of the same song. 

DEVA and the Sensual Sounds

DEVA also marks a homecoming to Premal’s beginnings in more ways than one, as she’s shared that her father chanted this very mantra to her while in her mother’s womb. Always nurturing and soothing, DEVA contains some chants with her partner in life and love, Miten. It also includes breathtaking bansuri flute parts by long-time musical cohort and dear friend, Nepalese flutist, Manose. “Prabhujee,” a devotional song written by the late Pundit Ravi Shankar, features his daughter, Anoushka Shankar, on classical sitar. The sensual sound bed finessed by producer Joby Baker is perfection as it supports Premal’s serene vocals effortlessly. 

DEVA and Mantra Medicine

Heralded as one of the greatest artists in New Age music, she’s well-deserving of her global fan base and the praise she’s received from a wide range of celebrity luminaries including HH the Dalai Lama, Eckhart Tolle, Cher, and Tony Robbins. Often touted as “mantra medicine,” this music will make your soul feel like it’s being sung the sweetest lullaby while wrapped in the softest velvet blanket in the universe. Yes, Deva Premal’s mantras are nurturing “medicine.” 

Deva Premal photo by Manose

Read listener reviews online or talk to anyone familiar, and you’ll quickly understand the transformational and healing effects Deva Premal’s music has on the masses. This includes those who share of being stopped in their tracks and transported onto a bliss-wave in a spiritual bookstore playing one of her many albums, as well as others who have peaceful sleep through listening to Deva’s songs. People in yoga classes testify that they find the most restorative savasana while her music’s playing. Her ability to transmit sacred vibrations is incomparable.

Deva Premal is an auditory alchemist whose music on DEVA nurtures, uplifts, and transports listeners to a refuge for the conscious—and busy—mind to let go, rest, and renew.

 

 

Leanne Wood

Reviewed by Leanne Wood; Yoga Music Aficionada at Bliss Bubble Radio and Bliss-Chasing Blogger at www.BlissBubble.com. Prior to this, Leanne was the founding manager of the mantra rock band, Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe, the founder and director of the non-profit project The Shakti Tribe Foundation which offered empowering peace concert programs in jails, prison and halfway houses and was the co-founder of the ground-breaking “Yoga for your Ears” internet radio station Sacred Sounds Radio. She is currently working on her Eat, Pray, Love meets Almost Famous memoir, which chronicles her often surreal life on the road with a yoga band on the rise and the lessons learned in the bargain.

www.blissbubble.com

The post DEVA by Deva Premal appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

The first album by singer/songwriter Kimberly Haynes is a richly produced, genre-crossing collection of uplifting poetry put to song. I was pleasantly surprised to find she avoids the cliché of syrupy sweet “life-is-but-a-dream” lyrics I too often find in New Thought music. Her offerings reveal an authentic wisdom and depth earned from the highs and lows of spiritual seeking and finding. Kimberly’s powerful soprano vocals, which often remind me of Joni Mitchell, mesh into a harmoniously wonderful dance with the complex fusion of Western and Eastern instrumentation layered throughout every song.

Awaken Me weaves a tapestry of musical prayers that shine in large part due to the talented co-producer David Vito Gregoli, who also lent his arranging skills and multi-instrumental gifts to the project. In addition to Vito’s performances on strings, flutes and percussion, there is an impressive list of stellar artists who contributed to this album along with Kimberly Haynes. Standout contributions include vocalist Tina Malia, multi-Grammy nominated pianist Peter Kater, percussionists Christo Pellani and Byron Metcalf, Native American flautist Al Jewer, and the sensitive mastering job by Grammy-winning Ricky Kej.

Successfully traversing many styles, Awaken Me even contains a little mantra content for those seeking chants in their musical selections. The opening title track “Awaken Me” has a haunting “Om” chant woven throughout that feels perfect for savasana or relaxation. “The Jewel” lyrics are a reminder to go within to find what truly matters, and the song begins and ends with “Om Mani Padme Hum” (“Behold the Jewel Within the Lotus”). The sultry “You’re the One that I Want” (yeah, that little sugar shack Travolta/Newton-John track from Grease) has been re-imagined to include the Krishna chant “Govinda Jaya” mixed underneath the closing.

According to Kimberly, “Each of us has the daily opportunity to awaken to our personal destiny—to who we truly are and what we each have to give.” With that in mind, her music provides an avenue to reflect and find just that.

Awaken Me by Kimberly Haynes is a musical invitation to view life as a sacred journey filled with joy, discovery, healing, love and connection that delivers an inspirational and accessible listening experience.

For more information about Kimberly, her music, and her events visit her at her home online Music Medicine Woman.

Leanne Wood

Reviewed by Leanne Wood; Yoga Music Aficionada at Bliss Bubble Radio and Bliss-Chasing Blogger at www.BlissBubble.com. Prior to this, Leanne was the founding manager of the mantra rock band, Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe, the founder and director of the non-profit project The Shakti Tribe Foundation which offered empowering peace concert programs in jails, prison and halfway houses and was the co-founder of the ground-breaking “Yoga for your Ears” internet radio station Sacred Sounds Radio. She is currently working on her Eat, Pray, Love meets Almost Famous memoir, which chronicles her often surreal life on the road with a yoga band on the rise and the lessons learned in the bargain.

www.blissbubble.com

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Musicians Benjy and Heather Wertheimer, also known as Shantala, partners in life, love, and music, recently released their latest album Living Waters. Finished in the wake of their maiden voyage to India, it’s a mantra-infused, meditative plunge for the spirit.

The instrumentation and vocals are masterfully performed, captured, and mixed to create a sonic sound bed that simultaneously makes palpable their reverence, devotion, and purity of heart. At the album’s core are Benjy—whose gorgeous multi-instrumentalism (esraj, tabla, guitar, keyboards, and percussion) routinely brings me to tears; Heather, a divinely gifted vocalist and guitarist, and Sean Frenette, co-collaborator and fellow musical genius. Sublime contributions come from Alam Khan on sarode, Steve Gorn on bansuri flute, Jami Sieber on cello, Ben Leinbach on percussion, and guest vocalists Tina Malia, Lindsey Stormo, and Luna Marcus.

Picking “a favorite” is difficult, as every song is a gem. “Kothbiro/Jaya Radhe” is achingly beautiful. It is an African rain song originally written and performed by Ayub Ogada; Sean and Benjy flawlessly added Sanskrit mantra into the second half of their version. “Wahe Guru,” a Kundalini chant to bring the heart light, and soul freedom, resonates with me, due in part to my own Kundalini practice. On “Aham Ityeva,” lyrics and melody are courtesy of one of their teachers, Douglas Brooks, and it opens a divine channel to the interconnectedness of all.

Living Waters is blissful soul diving. Each track flows gently into the next and generates a sweet, sacred sound current perfect for life’s daily activities.

Living Waters

By Shantala, Benjy and Heather Wertheimer

Wolf Club Music

Reviewed by Leanne Wood, Yoga Music Aficionada and Founder of Bliss Bubble Radio, www.BlissBubbleRadio.com, and Co-Owner at HeartLAB Tours, www.HeartLABTours.com.

Leanne Wood

Reviewed by Leanne Wood; Yoga Music Aficionada at Bliss Bubble Radio and Bliss-Chasing Blogger at www.BlissBubble.com. Prior to this, Leanne was the founding manager of the mantra rock band, Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe, the founder and director of the non-profit project The Shakti Tribe Foundation which offered empowering peace concert programs in jails, prison and halfway houses and was the co-founder of the ground-breaking “Yoga for your Ears” internet radio station Sacred Sounds Radio. She is currently working on her Eat, Pray, Love meets Almost Famous memoir, which chronicles her often surreal life on the road with a yoga band on the rise and the lessons learned in the bargain.

www.blissbubble.com

The post Music Review: Living Waters appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.